Grass collector for a mower

ABSTRACT

A grass collector adapted to be attached to a rear of a riding-type mower for receiving cut grass from a mower unit through a duct, the grass collector comprises a front container section having a rearwardly facing opening and adapted to be attached to the riding-type mower, the front container section carrying a first bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position; and a rear container section supported pivotably about a pivot point located in a rear upper region of the front container section and pivotable between a first position wherein the rear container section substantially covers the opening of the front container section and a second position pivoted from the first position to allow cut grass to fall, the rear container section having a second bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a conventional art, a grass collector for a mower has a frontcontainer section that opened rearwardly and a rear container sectionthat opened forwardly where the front container section is fixed to thevehicle side. The rear container section is pivotably supported about apivot point located in an upper rear portion of the front containersection. (See for example, JP5-15224).

The grass collecting container with the two section construction whereonly the rear container section is pivoted upwardly has an advantageover a type where the entire collector is swung upward in that theformer has a smaller weight to pivot up. However, the collectingcapacity of the fixed front container section is limited.

That is, a front container section has the bottom portion which issloped, which leaves the front container section with a small capacity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made in light of the issues mentioned above.An object of the invention is to provide a grass collector havingadvantages of the two section structure without sacrificing thecollecting volume.

To attain the object of the invention, the grass collector adapted to beattached to a rear of a riding-type mower for receiving cut grass from amower unit through a duct comprises a front container section having arearwardly facing opening and adapted to be attached to the riding-typemower, the front container section carrying a first bottom plate havinga substantially horizontal position; and a rear container sectionsupported pivotably about a pivot point located in a rear upper regionof the front container section and pivotable between a first positionwherein the rear container section substantially covers the opening ofthe front container section and a second position pivoted from the firstposition to allow cut grass to fall, the rear container section having asecond bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position.

Since the front container section has the first bottom plate having asubstantially horizontal position, the invention provides a grasscollector has a relatively large collecting volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the entire mower tractor,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the entire mower tractor,

FIG. 3 is a right side view showing the grass collecting apparatus inits grass collecting state,

FIG. 4 is a right side view showing the grass collecting apparatus inits ejection state,

FIG. 5 is a side view of a grass collecting container where respectivesections are separated,

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional side view showing the grass collectingapparatus in its grass collecting state,

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional side view showing the grass collectingapparatus in its ejection state,

FIG. 8 is a vertical section back view of a grass collecting apparatus,

FIG. 9 is a vertical section back view of a grass collecting container,

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a grass collecting containercoupling portion,

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional side view showing the connection part ofthe mower and the duct.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The left lateral side view of the mower tractor with the grasscollecting apparatus to which the present invention is directed is shownin FIG. 1 and its plan view is shown in FIG. 2. The mower unit 5 isarranged below the four-wheel-drive riding type vehicle 3 having thefront wheels 1 and the rear wheels 2. The mower unit 5 is connected tothe riding vehicle 3 vertically movably through the lift linkagemechanism 4 of the parallel linkage mechanism which consists of frontlinks 4 a and rear links 4 b. The grass cut by the mower unit 5 isguided through the duct 6 to the rear of vehicle, and is collected withthe grass collecting container 7. The grass collecting apparatus A whichhas the grass collecting container 7 is attached to the vehicle rearportion. The engine 9 is mounted to the front upper part of the mainframe 8 of the vehicle 3. The front-axle case 10 which steerablysupports the right and left front wheel 1 is connected to the frontlower part of the main frame 8. The transmission case 11 which supportsthe rear wheel 2 is connected to the rear portion of the main frame 8.

The power from an engine 9 is transmitted to a transmission case 11 witha shaft and is transmitted to the hydraulic continuously variable speedchange device 13 connected to the rear face of the transmission case 11.The shift operation portion of the hydraulic continuously variable speedchange device 13 is connected by a linkage to the speed change pedal 14arranged at the feet area of the operator's station of the ridingvehicle 3.

The continuous speed change in a forward travel is performed by a stepin operation of the speed change pedal 14 in a forward direction, andthe continuous speed change in a reverse travel is performed by a stepin operation to the rearward direction of the speed change pedal 14. Thegear change power of the hydraulic continuously variable speed changedevice 13 is input into a transmission case 11. Then, the power branchesto two lines. One branched power is transmitted to the rear wheel 2. Theother is transmitted to the front-axle case 10 through the powertransmission shaft 15.

The mower unit 5 has three bar-shaped blades 17 driven through verticalaxis at a center, right and left locations of a deck 16. The cut grassis joined by the wind generated by each bar blade 17, and is guided andsent out from the cut grass exhaust port 18 which protrudes in a tunnelmanner in the lateral middle region on the top face of a rear portion ina deck 16. The input case 19 is provided in the lateral center of a topface of a deck 16, and the operating power taken out from the front faceof the transmission case 11 is transmitted to the input case 19 throughthe power transmission shaft 20. This power is transmitted to each blade17 with a belt.

As shown in FIG. 11, the duct 6 is fixedly connected to the vehiclelower part. The duct 6 is formed in the shape of a tunnel which opensdownwardly. The front part of the duct 6 is connected to the cut grassexhaust port 18 such that the connection permits lifting movements ofthe mower unit 5. The back end of the duct 6 extends to and incommunication with the front face of the grass collecting container 7.In addition, the cut grass sent out with sufficient velocity towards theback upper part from the mower unit 5 flows rearwardly along the ceilingareas of the cut grass exhaust port 18 and the duct 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, the grass collecting container 7 has a dividedconfiguration in the fore and aft direction having the front containersection 7A and the rear container section 7B. The front containersection 7A is fixedly connected to the rear end part of the main frame8. The rear container section 7B is vertically pivotably connected tothe front container section 7A about the pivot point p extending in atransverse direction at a location near the top back end of the frontcontainer section 7A.

As shown in FIG. 8, the front container section 7A is made with sheetmetal, has an opening that opens rearwardly, and generally has anapproximate box-shape. A cut grass entrance opening 21 of a rectangularshape, though which the rear end part of the duct 6 communicates withthe collector 7, is formed in the central lower part of the front wallsurface of the front container section 7A. The ventilation portions 22with the sheet steel with a large number of small hole punched throughor metal netting are formed on the right and left side wall surface ofthe front container section 7A. Since the air flow blown in from the cutgrass entrance opening 21 escapes from the ventilation portions 22,right and left areas of the front container section 7A are filled upwith cut grass.

The rear bottom plate 23 that is broad in a lateral direction but shortin the fore and aft direction forming the base of the front containersection 7A, and the laterally narrow but long bottom plate 24 forming abase of the duct 6 is formed as one piece sheet steel bottom platemember 25 of a flat configuration having a T-shape. This bottom platemember 25 is supported pivotally to a lower portion of the frontcontainer section 7A about a pivot q that extends laterally in the frontend region of the bottom plate 23 of the front container section 7A.This bottom plate member 25 can be pivoted between a grass collectingposition which is substantially horizontal in the fore and aftdirection, and the ejecting position in which the front part of thebottom plate member 25 is inclined upwardly.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the bottom plate member 25 is in the grasscollecting position, the back end of the bottom plate 23 approaches thebase front end of the rear container section 7B. And the front bottomplate 24 is located along the lower part of the duct 6 forming one longbase covering the grass collecting container 7 from a duct rear portion.

When the bottom plate member 25 moves to the ejecting position as shownin FIG. 7, the front bottom plate 24 is pivoted up to the top of a duct6 within the duct 6, the rear bottom plate 23 is pivoted to a steepinclined position such that its rear portion is lower than its frontportion. The right outer surface in the front container section 7A hasthe control lever 26 which can be pivoted about the pivot point a.

The operation arm 27 that pivots with the control lever 26, and theoperating arm 28 pivots with the bottom plate member 25 are operativelyconnected through the rod 29. The control lever 26 extends to the rightside of the operator's seat 30 of the vehicle 3, and the operator whosits in the operator's seat 30 can vertically swing the bottom platemember 25 by pivoting the control lever 26.

The rear container section 7B is explained next with reference to FIG.6. The steel sheet bottom plate 32 is connected to the underside of thesupport frame 31. The sheet material 33 of woven resin or cloth withappropriate mesh size is fixed on the upper wall side, right and leftside wall surfaces, and the back wall side of the rear container section7B.

The rear container section 7B has the box-like configuration having anopening which opens generally toward the front. The support frame 31 isformed by assembling a metal round pipe material to a box-shape. Theupper cover 34 is arranged, with a suitable space, above the upper partof the rear container section 7B. This allows the wind blown in with cutgrass from the cut grass entrance slot 21 to escape from the upper wallside, lateral side wall surfaces, and a back wall side withair-permeable sheet material 34. The wind which passed through the upperwall side is guided by the upper cover 34, and flows towards a lowerpart from the upper part of a back wall side.

The rear container section 7B is supported detachably, and verticallypivotably about the pivot point p, to the front container section 7A.

The structures for allowing a pivoting, an attachment and detachment areexplained next.

As shown in FIG. 8, the pivot shaft 35 which is the pivot point p of therear container section 7B penetrates and is fixed in the rear upper partof the right side wall of the front container section 7A in a lateraldirection. A pivot shaft 36 projects inwardly, and concentrically withsaid pivot shaft 35, at the location above a rear portion of theleft-hand side wall of the front container section 7A. Connectingfittings 37 are fixed to the right and left front and upper positions ofthe support frame 31 in the rear container section 7B, respectively. Theengaging recess 38 formed in each connecting fitting 37 engages fromabove with the inwardly projecting parts of the right-hand side pivotshaft 35, and the left-hand side pivot shaft 36 respectively.

The rear container section 7B is supported to and vertically pivotablyabout the pivot shafts 35 and 36 (pivot point p) with the section 7Bfixed in the lateral direction. The positioning pins 31 a are formed inthe front end lower part of the rear container section 7B by extendingthe lateral ends of the support frame 31 to the outward directions. Thesteps 39 are formed in the lower part of the back ends of the lateralside wall surfaces in the front container section 7A to abut and catchthe positioning pins 31 a.

The front opening end of the rear container section 7B is connected in aproper grass collecting position to the back opening end of the frontcontainer section 7A proper due to the steps 39 abutting and catchingthe positioning pins 31 a. The operation arm 41 pivotably supported bythe outward projection of said pivot shaft 35 is arranged on the outsideof the right side wall in the front container section 7A. The rearwardlyfacing engaging recess 42 is formed in the free end portion of thisoperation arm 41. The engaging pin 43 protrudes laterally on the rightfront end part of the support frame 31 in the rear container section 7Band is releasably engageable with the engaging recess 42 of theoperation arm 41. The operating arm 41 has the control lever 44.

As shown in FIG. 4, by pivoting the control lever 44 forwardly, andswinging up the operation arm 41 rearwardly, the rear container section7B, which engages with the operating arm 41 through the engaging recess42 and the engaging pin 43, is pivoted downwardly to its ejectionposition with its opening facing downwardly. A gas spring 45 which urgesthe operation arm 41 upwardly is arranged between the operation arm 41and the front container section 7A to reduce the force required tooperate the control lever 44. The control lever 44 is supported tooperation arm 41 such that the control lever 44 can be extended andcontracted with respect to the operation arm 41. That is, the bosssection 41 extending in the vertically direction is fixed to the outsideof the operation arm 41, and the control lever 44 is held in it suchthat it can slide substantially vertically in this boss section 41 a.The control lever 44, in a free state, slides to a lower limit point onits own weight. In this contracted position, the grip part 44 a of thecontrol lever 44 is in a location lower than the backrest top end of theoperator's seat 15, and is held at the height which does not pose as anobstacle for vehicle control or for watching the rear.

When discharging the collected cut grass by pivoting the rear containersections 7B, the control lever 44 is slid up so that the grip part 44 amoves to a location higher than the backrest top end of the operator'sseat 30. The stopper pin 44 b provided in the upper part of the controllever 44 is caught by the upper end of the boss section 41 a, torestrict the downward slide of the control lever 44. The upward slide ofthe control lever 44 is restricted by the large diameter stopper pin 44b provided in the lower-end portion of the control lever 44 abutting thelower end of the boss section 41 a.

The base and the boss section 41 a of said operation arm 41 are coveredwith a covering 50.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the collected cut grass is discharged bypivoting the rear container section 7B upwardly, the front containersection 7A is opened rearwardly by the pivoting of the rear containersection 7B, and much of the cut grass in the front container section 7Ais discharged. However, cut grass collected in the rear portion of theduct 6 and the cut grass collected on the bottom of the front containersection 7A remain. By operating the control lever 26 to switch thebottom plate member 25 to the ejecting position where its front portionis lifted and inclined to an angle, cut grass collected on the rearportion of a duct 6 and cut grass collected on the bottom of the frontcontainer section 7A can be discharged.

The hook member 46 which engages with said positioning pin part 31 a ofthe rear container section 7B from above in the grass collectingposition is provided in the front end lower part of the front containersection 7A. This hook member 46 pivotably supported in the verticaldirection about the pivot point b, and is urged by the spring 47 in theengaging direction. This prevents an unintentional pivoting of the rearcontainer section 7B and formation of a gap between the front containersection 7A and the rear container section 7B due to the vehicle bounceduring travel when the rear container section 7B is pivoted into a grasscollecting position to collect cut grass. Thus this prevents thecollected cut grass from falling.

However, the hook shape and the strength of the spring 47 are set sothat, as the hook member 46 is pushed by the positioning pin part 31 aof the rear container section 7B, it pivots rearwardly against thespring 47 when operating the control lever 44 to pivot the rearcontainer section 7B intentionally.

The lateral inner surface in the front container section 7A has therestraint pin 51 and the restraint projection 57 both extending inwardlyat locations distant from the pivot shafts 35 and 36.

The guide groove 52 which is in the shape of arc centering on the pivotpoint p and which is continuous with said engaging recess 38 is formedin the connecting fitting 37 of the rear container section 7B.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the rear container section 7B is pivoteddownwardly and is in the grass collecting position, the restraint pin 51is out of the guide groove 52. In this state, by raising the rearcontainer section 7B up, and removing the connecting fittings 37 fromthe pivot shafts 35 and 36, the rear container section 7B can be removedfrom the front container section 7A. As the rear container section 7B isswung up from its grass collecting position as shown in FIG. 7, therestraint pin 51 is engaged by the guide groove 52 and the restraintprojection 57 approaches the front side of the connecting fitting 37.Therefore, it becomes impossible to move the connecting fitting 37upwardly and forwardly with respect to the pivot shafts 35 and 36. Thatis, the attachment-and-detachment restraint structure is provided thatpermits an attachment and detachment of the rear container section 7Bonly when the rear container section 7B is pivoted downwardly and in thelow grass collecting position.

In addition, the handles 53 connected with the support frame 31 at aforward and a rearward location of the top face in the rear containersection 7B are provided and are used for attachment and detachment ofthe rear container section 7B. Before removal of the rear containersection 7B, and after operating the extended control lever 44 rearwardlyagainst the gas spring 45, the shortened control lever 44 is engagedwith the pin 58 which protrudes on the side face of the front containersection 7A, and the operation arm 41 is held in the location separatedfrom the engaging pin 43. Thus, by fixing the control lever 44, theoperation arm 41, now free of the weight of the rear container section7B, is prevented from pivoting upwardly by the gas spring 45.

As shown in FIG. 11, the bottom plate 54 which forms the base of the cutgrass exhaust port 18 is provided in the back lower part of the deck 16of the mower unit 5. This bottom plate 54 is vertically pivotable aboutthe pivot point c and can be manually pivoted by the control lever 55.When cut grass clogs the cut grass exhaust port 18 or near a connectionwith a duct 6, cut grass can be discharged by pivoting the bottom plate54 from the space d formed between this bottom plate 54 and the bottomplate 24 of a duct 6. When a large amount of cut grass is clogged, itbecomes difficult to move the bottom plate 54. The cut out portion 56 isformed in the side front part of a duct 6 to lower the height of theduct 6 in this area so that some cut grass pushed by the pivoting of thebottom plate 54 is forced out from the cut out portion 56 whichfacilitates removal of the clog. Therefore, the bottom plate 54 can bepivoted by a greater degree by pivoting the bottom plate 54 severaltimes. Therefore, clogged cut grass can all be discharged from Cavity d.

Other Embodiments

(1) the control lever 26 is used as mentioned above as an operatormanipulated implement for pivoting said bottom plate member 25. Anoperating pedal may also be used that can be operated by an operator inthe operator's seat 15.

(2) It is also possible to form the bottom plate 23 of the frontcontainer section 7A, separate from the bottom plate 24 of a duct 6 sothat they may be pivoted vertically independently. In this case, it ispossible to locate a pivot point for the bottom plate 23 of the frontcontainer section 7A in its rear end region so that it is tilted up inits ejecting position. This would increase the drop height between thebottom of the front container section 7A and the ground when ejectingthe cut grass.

(3) The bottom plate member 25 can also be operatively connected to theoperation arm 41 so that an upward pivoting actuation of the rearcontainer section 7B pivots the bottom plate member 25 into its ejectingposition.

(4) When the capacity of the grass collecting container 7 is large, saidoperation arm 41 may be moved with actuators, such as an hydrauliccylinder or an electric cylinder.

1. A grass collector adapted to be attached to a rear of a riding-typemower for receiving cut grass from a mower unit through a duct, thegrass collector comprising: a front container section having arearwardly facing opening and adapted to be attached to the riding-typemower, the front container section carrying a first bottom plate havinga substantially horizontal position; a rear container section supportedpivotably about a pivot point located in a rear upper region of thefront container section and pivotable between a first position whereinthe rear container section substantially covers the opening of the frontcontainer section and a second position pivoted from the first positionto allow cut grass to fall, the rear container section having a secondbottom plate having a substantially horizontal position.
 2. A grasscollector according to claim 1, wherein the first bottom plate of thefront container section is supported pivotably about a pivot pointbetween a grass collecting position capable of holding cut grass and aslanted ejecting position.
 3. A grass collector according to claim 1,wherein the first bottom plate of the front container section isgenerally T-shaped with a portion forming a part of a bottom of the ductand a further portion forming a bottom of the front container section.4. A grass collector according to claim 1 further comprising: a firstoperating device carried by the front container section for pivoting therear container section.
 5. A grass collector according to claim 1further comprising: an operating lever operatively connected to thefirst bottom plate for pivoting the first bottom plate, the operatinglever being located in an area wherein the operating lever can beoperated by an operator seated in the operator's seat of the riding-typemower.
 6. A grass collector according to claim 1, wherein the rearcontainer section is releasably connected to the front containersection, and wherein an attachment and detachment restricting mechanismis provided for allowing attachment and detachment of the rear containersection with the front container section only when the rear containersection is in the first position.
 7. A grass collector according toclaim 1, wherein walls of the rear container sections have air-permeablesheet material.
 8. A grass collector according to claim 4, wherein thefirst operating device is a first operating lever wherein an operatingarm operated by the first lever operating lever for pivoting the rearcontainer section is carried by the front container section, and whereinthe operating arm releasably abuts the rear container section.
 9. Agrass collector according to claim 8, wherein the pivot point aboutwhich the rear container section pivots is concentric with a furtherpivot point about which the operating arm pivots.
 10. A grass collectoraccording to claim 8, wherein the first operating lever is supported tothe operating arm such that the first operating lever can be extendedand contracted with respect to the operating arm.
 11. A grass collectoraccording to claim 8, wherein the operating arm is urged upwardly by anelastic urging means.
 12. A grass collector adapted to be attached to arear of a riding-type mower for receiving cut grass from a mower unitthrough a duct, the grass collector comprising: a front member adaptedto be attached to the riding-type mower; a container section having anopening that opens forwardly and supported pivotably about a pivot pointlocated in the front member and pivotable between a first positionwherein the opening is substantially covered by the front member and asecond position pivoted from the first position to allow cut grass tofall, the rear container section having a container bottom plate havinga substantially horizontal position, wherein the front member carries anoperating device for pivoting the container section between the firstposition and the second position.
 13. A grass collector according toclaim 12, wherein the front member has an upper cover, a right and aleft side, and a front member bottom plate.
 14. A grass collectoraccording to claim 13, wherein the front member bottom plate of thefront container section is pivotably supported about a pivot pointbetween a grass collecting position capable of holding cut grass and aslanted ejecting position.
 15. A grass collector according to claim 13,wherein the first member bottom plate is generally T-shaped with aportion forming a part of a bottom of the duct and a further portionforming a bottom of the front member.